Keep up-to-date with all that is happening in welfare policy with this curated selection of news – Policy Buzz – published every fortnight.

Policy News

• Guidelines for assessment of child suspects in heinous offences issued by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).
•  To promote innovation in the agricultural sector among school students, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) have converged efforts.
• Youth policy and youth portal launched by the Government of Madhya Pradesh. The Chief Minister also announced a new scheme, Mukhya Mantri Yuva Kaushal Kamai Yojana (CM skill-earning scheme).
• A resolution to urge the Centre and President to fix a timeframe for governors to approve bills was adopted by the Tamil Nadu assembly. 

Health 

• The Centre was directed to formulate a national model for managing menstrual hygiene for school-going girls by the Supreme Court.
• The Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) package rates have been revised by the Union Health Ministry.
• The Animal Pandemic Preparedness Initiative (APPI) and the Animal Health System Support for One Health was launched by the Centre. 
• Indian standards of drug regulation should be on par with global standards as well as aligned with the International Council for Harmonisation guidelines, as per NITI Aayog recommendations.
• ‘A Global Framework to prepare for Country Introduction of New TB Vaccines for Adults and Adolescents’ released by the WHO.

Education

• National Credit Framework (NCRF) released by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
• All higher education institutions under UGC’s ambit have been directed to set up a student grievance redressal portal.
• Draft guidelines for the incorporation of the Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) in higher education released by the UGC. 
• Any attempt by boards to enforce a curriculum of their own that is not in compliance with the state academic authority and NCERT is in violation of the law, said the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).
• Autonomous colleges will no longer be required to ensure that the number of contractual faculty is not more than 10 per cent of the total sanctioned faculty positions, as per the revised UGC norms.

WASH

• Namami Gange Programme signed an MoU with 49 universities to foster awareness among the youth on water conservation in general and river rejuvenation
• Triple Threat Report, concerning risks to children due to disease, climate risks, and unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene, released by UNICEF.

Other News

• The Status of Women in Agrifood Systems report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

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